트럼프의 마지막 사면에 자신, 가족, 쥴리아니를 제외한 이유?

Trump Pardons and Commutes 143 People on His Last Day, but Doesn't Parden Him & His family:

트럼프가 자신과 그의 가족, 그리고 상 미친놈 루디 쥴리아니를 제외시킨 이유는 자신들이 연방 관련 범죄를 짓지 않았다는 걸 일단 내보인 후에 법정대응을 하겠다는 꼼수를 부린 것이다. 그러나 그의 4년 동안의 행적을 보면 무식하기 짝이 없는 주제에 생각나는 대로 지껄였고, 그게 거짓으로 밝혀져도 외눈 하나 깜짝하지 않는 아주 뻔뻔하기 그지없는 행동을 보였기에, 모두 다 무죄로 될 가능성은 전혀 없을 일이다. 그들은 오랫동안 엄청난 법적 소용돌이에 휘말릴 것이고, 국회 의사당 난입과 폭동으로 많은 공화당 의원들이 등을 돌리고 있는 마당에서, 그에 대한 탄핵이 2016년 대선 때 러시아와 연계된 반역죄는 다수 공화당 상원의원의 벽에 부딪쳐 좌절되었지만, 이번 두 번째 탄핵에서는 가능성이 클 것으로 전망된다. 만약 탄핵이 되면 그는 모든 혜택을 잃어버리는 죄인이 도된다. 그리고 만약에 양분된 미국을 봉합하기 위해서 바이든 대통령이 사면을 해준다 해도, 트럼프는 연방법 위반 죄인으로 낙인이 찍혀 미국 역사에 길이길이 남을 일이기도 하고, 주 소관의 탈세, 융자, 선거자금유용 등 수많은 비리로 질질 끌려다닐 것이다.

 

그리고 곧 죽어도 찍~한다고, 이 사기꾼이 끝까지 대선 패배를 인정하지 않고 어깃장을 놓는 개똥보다 못한 오로지 자신과 자격도 없는 식솔들을 챙기는 나르시시트인데, 뭐, 마지막으로 떠나가면서 한 말은, 아직도 자신을 믿고 따르는 패거리를 염두에 두고 Faraewell speech에서 결코 짧지 않은 4년후에, "I'll be back in some form!" 라고 했다나? 지가 뭐, 터미네이터의 아놀드 수와쯔네거인가? 어디 두고 봅시다. 

Joe Walsh Forbes Staff, Business

I cover breaking news for Forbes.

 

Andrew Solender Forbes Staff, Business

I write about politics and the Biden transition.

Updated Jan 20, 2021, 06:10am EST

 

TOPLINE

 President Donald Trump offered a final wave of pardons and commutations to 143 people early Wednesday morning, a list that includes former campaign chief  Steve Bannon, several political operatives and rapper Lil Wayne — but despite weeks of speculation, Trump didn’t pardon himself, his family or anybody directly involved in the riots at the U.S. Capitol.

 

KEY FACTS

-Former White House strategist and Trump campaign CEO Steve Bannon was pardoned on Wednesday, five months after the far-right political operative and onetime head of Breitbart News was charged with defrauding donors to a border wall-building fundraiser.

 

-Elliott Broidy, a former Trump 2016 fundraiser who’s been accused of lobbying the Trump administration on behalf of foreign governments, earned a full pardon after he pleaded guilty last year for failing to register as a foreign agent.

 

-Paul Erickson, a Republican lawyer and former boyfriend of convicted Russian agent Maria Butina, was pardoned after pleading guilty to wire fraud (a charge unrelated to Butina) in 2019; in a statement, the White House claimed Erickson’s conviction stemmed from the “Russian collusion hoax,” insisting a pardon “helps right the wrongs of what has been revealed to be perhaps the greatest witch hunt in American History.”

 

-Three Republican former members of Congress were pardoned: California Rep. Duke Cunningham (who was released from prison in 2013 after taking millions of dollars in bribes from defense contractors), Arizona Rep. Rick Renzi (who was convicted on corruption charges in 2013) and North Carolina Rep. Robin Hayes (who pleaded guilty last year to lying to the FBI, part of a larger corruption investigation).

 

-Notorious former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick earned a commutation from Trump, lopping time off a 28-year sentence (which began in 2013) for allegedly orchestrating a massive racketeering, bribery and extortion scheme while in office.

 

-Lil Wayne, who praised Trump in an October tweet, secured a full pardon for the gun charges he pleaded guilty to last month, saving him from up to 10 years in federal prison.

 

-Rapper Kodak Black also received a commutation, reducing a 46-month sentence that started after he pleaded guilty for falsifying gun paperwork in 2019.

 

-Anthony Levandowski was given a full pardon, avoiding time behind bars after the former Google engineer at the heart of a lawsuit between Alphabet and Uber over IP theft, pleaded guilty last year to stealing trade secrets and was handed an 18-month sentence.

 

-Sholam Weiss earned a commutation, shortening the staggering 835-year prison sentence he was handed more than two decades ago for setting up an insurance fraud scheme (former Trump lawyers Alan Dershowitz and Jay Sekulow backed clemency for Weiss).

 

-Florida-based eye doctor Salomon Melgen secured a commutation for orchestrating a Medicare fraud scheme, cutting short his 17-year prison sentence.

-Trump also offered pardons and commutations to dozens of less well-known people serving sentences for drug and other offenses.

 

TANGENT

Trump ultimately shied away from more controversial pardons for his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, his adult children or his son-in-law Jared Kushner. The president also did not attempt to pardon himself, which would have been an unprecedented and legally untested move, after several aides reportedly warned a self-pardon could make him look guilty of a crime. And despite some scattered pleas, none of the Trump supporters who broke into the U.S. Capitol building almost two weeks ago were pardoned.

 

CRUCIAL QUOTE

Giuliani told Forbes Tuesday night that he’s not interested in a pardon.

 

SURPRISING FACT

Trump’s relationship with Bannon has fluctuated wildly in recent years. The president said his former campaign chief had “lost his mind” in 2018, but Bannon has reportedly spoken with Trump several times over the last few weeks, and he was involved in an effort to release damaging information about President-elect Joe Biden ahead of last year’s election.

 

KEY BACKGROUND

Trump has offered up fewer pardons and commutations than most other recent presidents, but he’s used his pardoning power in unconventional and controversial ways, often handing clemency to political allies and loyalists. Several members of his 2016 campaign team have earned pardons in recent months, including Paul Manafort, Roger Stone, George Papadopoulos and former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn.

- Plus, Trump pardoned Charles Kushner, father of the president’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, and he’s granted clemency to high-profile supporters like controversial Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio and former Republican congressmen Duncan Hunter and Chris Collins. (-)